The requiem of a legend
Requiem: rest, in the meaning of death or retirement.
The 5º/8º Aviation Group is located in Santa Maria, a medium town in the center of Brazil’s southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul. Founded in 1971, the squadron is proud to operate one of the most famous rotor wing machines in aviation history: BELL UH-1 HUEY, in “D” and “H” versions.
Approaching 40 years of operation in this unit, the Brazilian Air Force decided to replace the HUEY with the H-60 (Black Hawk) in 2010, after 39 years of good service. During this period of time, HUEY accomplished many different missions, and by the end of 2008, it proved that age didn’t reduce its capability to make the difference when necessary.
On November 22nd, after an abnormally rainy season, the area between Itajaí and Blumenau (Santa Catarina cities) was completely flooded and had a lot of avalanches, isolating many communities. On Nov. 23rd, the state government decided to ask for help from the federal government to address the crisis. The 5º/8º Squadron was driven in the same day, arriving in the area on the 24th at 15:00Z.
Itajaí city is located in the estuary of Itajaí-açú River, which flows by a large valley since the mountains where is located Blumenau. In Itajaí, there is one of the most important ports in Brazil. In this tract of valley of approximately 100 km, there are a lot of small places which use that fertile plains for agriculture and mining, using the port to drain the production.
Arriving in the area, the scene couldn’t be worse: 85% of the port city of Itajaí was flooded and the port destroyed; the region was totally isolated from the rest of the country by land and sea. On the highways we could see a lot of vehicles stopped in the highest points, surrounded by water. The region was restricted of fresh water and electricity, and the only available aid came by air, by means of an aerial supply line provided by the Air Force in the first week after the tragedy. About 80,000 people had to leave their houses, and most of them were waiting for the air support. Facing such tragedy, The Santa Catarina Operation, was organized, utilizing the services of the three Armed Forces and Firefighters and Police. During the apex of the operation, more than 30 aircraft of diverse models (H-50, H-34, H-1H, C-130, C-295) used Navegantes city airport, located on the opposite side of the Itajaí-açú River, as an Operations Base.
During all of this movement, the first three days were crucial, because only two helicopters of the Air Force (one H-34 and one H-1H) and a few H-50 of the Santa Catarina Government were operating in the area. In that time, the HUEY # FAB 8692 flew about 27 hours, evacuated 200 people from the risk areas and transported about 2-3 tons of food and medicine to the isolated areas. Not bad for a 40 years old aircraft.
From the various missions accomplished, we would like to chronicle two of them. These missions show the spirit of the crew involved in the rescues and the confidence in this machine, which never plays out.
1º ACT
The first story occurred in the second day of operation. It was decided the helicopters would distribute food, which had come during the night, in the isolated area of “Morro do Baú” (Baú hills). The initial idea was that people would receive groceries and wait at home until it was possible to gain access by land again (later on this idea was disposed of because of the high risk of new avalanches). With the mission determined, we loaded the aircraft and took off for Baú Seco Village, in the highest point of Baú hills.
Flying over the valley, 300 ft high due to cloud cover, we realized the mission wouldn’t occur as planned. Seeing the aircraft flying over (the HUEY was easily noticed, because of the noise amplified inside the valley) people began to wave white clothes in the gardens and on the roofs. After some time, many of the surviviors wrote messages on the grass or roofs, asking for help. Because of the additional rescues, all missions expected to last 40 minutes, actually lasted more than two hours, with the helicopter landing with less than 200 pounds of fuel. On one of these missions, there was a report of a risk of a dam rupture 15 km uphill from Arraial de Cima Village. We were requested to fly over the dam to set the coordinates, in order to send engineers to evaluate the risk. Five minutes after take-off from the soccer field we used as a landing point, we observed about ten people in an isolated house waving white clothes. We marked the point and went to the dam. Upon our return, we passed by that same point and now there were twenty people and a signal on the grass: “SOS ILL CHILD”.
Immediately, we informed our base in Navegantes via HF and began to prepare to land at the nearest possible area. It took about five minutes to determine the best approach. It was a restricted area (half rotor in each side), in a small plateau at the top of a narrow valley. Additionally, the wind, luckily weak, was blowing downhill, which meant we would have to land with a tail wind. In case of missed approach, we would have to go downhill, because uphill would be impossible due to the big incline. Everything planned, briefing done with the crew, we started a steep angle approach, where everything went well until the last third. It was then that we noticed a light pole at right (fortunately, electric wires were wrested by the flood, otherwise we couldn’t have landed) and in the end of the area there was a wire fence, limiting our landing. Landing done, about 20 meters ahead of the house, we were surprised by about sixty people coming from the house and advancing to the aircraft, which cued our SAR crew to immediately disembark and protect the aircraft, preventing the survivors from overrunning the helicopter. After some time talking to the victims, the SAR crew came back and stated that the people had been isolated for three days, some homeless because of the flood. They were aware of the risk of the rupture of the dam, but they couldn’t leave the place due to the closed roads. Upon hearing the sound of the helicopter, all of them came to that house with hope to be evacuated.
So we decided to begin the evacuation of the families, women and children first. In order to save time, we would take them to Arraial de Cima, from where the H-34 could transport them to the shelters in Blumenau. With each evacuation lasting 15 minutes, we faced a problem: fuel. We could do only five evacuations. So, we realized we couldn’t transport everybody without refueling. In addition, the sunset was near and we would have only 45 minutes to accomplish the last rescue. We started the evacuation, always within the limits of operation (we didn’t have to abort any take-off, though sometimes we had a loss of rotation; but how do you ask somebody to leave the aircraft in that high-risk situation?). Some people refused to get off the aircraft in Arraial de Cima. They wanted to abandon the place. A remarkable thing for the crew was a little girl playing with her doll, completely unaware of the gravity of the problem, and explaining to the doll “they were going to fly by helicopter for the very first time” (later we will talk about her again). By the last evacuation before refueling, when we informed the crowd that the helicopter would take a little more time to return than the normal, an old man started to beg to be taken out of there, assuming we wouldn’t come back. He actually tried to embark anyway and had to be blocked by the SAR crew, who voluntarily, stayed in the place with the people, watching our back. The image of that man held by two SAR men in front of the aircraft while taking-off, crying and asking “in the name of God” to come with us, made us sure to return there, because we were the last hope for that people who had lost everything.
After a more lengthy refueling than expected (there was a C-130 doing the same thing), we realized that we would have only fifteen minutes rather than 45minutes, as estimated before. Besides, the nightfall was reducing the visibility of the rescue area. Those who have flown a single-engine, forty year old aircraft, without IFR, with that weather condition, know that at this moment all the crew begin to make calculations and evaluate the possibilities. The silence in the cabin was broken only by the unique sound of HUEY blades. After some detours due to the weather, the helicopter landed at Alto do Baú Village loaded with food, water, mattresses, and blankets. This way, the families could survive until the rescue.
Aware of all the obstacles, the aircraft took-off to the rescue area five minutes after sunset and the crew decided not to leave those ten people one more night in that condition. Rescue done, the crew chose to fly over the mountains in order to escape from the light rain and depart via the Itajaí-açú valley. This way, we would be in a very open area and could land in Blumenau, if necessary. If this should happen, all had agreed to spend the night together with the helicopter, without any support. This shows the commitment to the rescue. Fortunately, after contacts with Navegantes, the crew decided to return there instead, because the conditions were favorable, landing in night vision conditions.
Inside the group of rescued people was that old man who had begged to go with the aircraft, and after the return, he confessed that he believed we would not come back. But, hearing the sound of the HUEY approaching, he was sure we wouldn’t leave him! And pronounced the noted sentence; “I knew you would come.” (Refers to a famous rescue done by Brazilian Air Force, which marks the rescue day in Brazil)
Returning to that girl who was playing with the doll, she became a personage of an interesting fact. After a very long and intense day of flights, during the night, one of the crew members told about a little girl who got off the helicopter crying. The mechanic consoled the girl telling her she would have to get off in order for the helicopter be able to help other people. But the girl said she had lost part of the doll (arm) inside the helicopter and didn’t want to leave without the part. Sgt Luna promised her to search for the doll arm by the end of the day only to calm her, because she cried without stop. What a surprise we had when one of the mechanics mentioned he had found a doll arm, while washing the aircraft. So, we decided while we couldn’t yet return the arm to the girl, it would be our charm in the helicopter! Fortunately, after some days we were able to locate the girl and give her doll arm back.
2º ACT
The second story takes place on the following day. It had been confirmed that the risk of the dam rupture reported the day before was very real. So, all inhabitants were evacuated from the region and many firefighter teams were taken to the place to evaluate the situation and search for corpses. A very high risk mission, because small avalanches were still occurring and the firemen would spend all day in the area, infiltrated in the morning and rescued in the afternoon.
By the end of the day, we started to rescue the teams, until we came to the last remaining team in Arraial de Cima Village. Reaching the valley in Poço Grande area, a surprise: the rain, still isolated, brought the visibility to zero, blocking the access to the area. With the weather clearly moving from NE to SW, we decided to circumvent the cloud taking another valley to the north at the Baú Central area. We went into the valley until the limit where the rain reached the mountains. Certain that the rain was moving to the expected direction, we landed to await improved weather conditions. The soil was plowed recently and was very soft, causing us to narrowly avert a tail boom touch, thanks to our mechanic who advised the pilot on time. We changed the landing place to a road 300 meters away from the first point and during the positioning of the aircraft our mechanic alerted us about a second rain coming from the north, and this time, it was not isolated. The rain was coming with a fog. As we were in the highest part of the valley, in a few minutes more this fog would close the low part of the valley, isolating us with no possibility to leave that place, because to cross the fog, we would have to fly in IFR conditions which was not a possibility in our H-1H aircraft. Immediately, we started to descend, but in the end, the rain was faster, and closed our exit. Trapped at the lower part, there was only one solution: We diverted to the south, having noted in our initial descent that the ceiling was higher there than the elevations in front of us, and we proceeded to climb toward the ceiling or toward an altitude high enough to cross the elevations, whichever came first. Fortunately, our estimation was correct and the ceiling was 150 feet above the top of the mountain. We crossed the mountain giving us a clear path to our base.
But, how could we abandon those firefighter teams who were depending on us for their evacuation in that high-risk area? All the crew decided to make one last try and, again, we noticed the valley had restricted visibility, but minimally sufficient for our mission. We were lucky to launch in the period between the first isolated rain and the second with fog, and knowing the time was short, went straight to the landing area. On the ground, the fireman commander asked if we could take all the group because, due to the sunset, this was probably the last aircraft of the day. Of course we agreed. We didn’t want, after all the adventure, to have to leave anyone behind. But, everybody knows firemen are not light people, especially with their equipment. So with everyone loaded on board, plus bags and equipments, plus smeller dog, somebody in the crew began to count how many people were aboard. In the middle of the counting, somebody else said: “Man, it is better to stop counting, otherwise we don’t take-off”. The silence was the signal that everybody agreed. So with a cabin full of firemen taking pictures and kidding with each other, unaware of the risk involved, we started the take-off in vertical up to the 35 feet needed to clear the obstacles and, in spite of a loss of 200 rpm in the main rotor, the instruments were all within limits and we got a slight movement forward, increasing speed and made a successful departure. This mission was possible because of perfect cabin coordination and the skills of the pilot. Immediately, all the crew started to smile, because we knew our mission was accomplished (later on, one of the mechanics stated that he counted 13 firemen aboard, plus four crew members, plus dog and equipment). To be fair, a Police’s H-50 helicopter was ready to go in order to rescue any remaining people, but we proudly said: “There is nobody else. We brought everybody.” Once more, despite the age, the HUEY had proved its value.
Due to its undeniable value during Santa Catarina Operation and its forty year history in the Brazilian Air Force as well, the most recent graduating class from the Air Force Sergeants School decided to honor the remarkable feat done by 5º/8º Aviation Group and its HUEY, immortalizing the rescue in a painting at the school entrance. The picture chosen was taken during the rescue of the victims from Arraial de Cima, representing the spirit of rotor wing aviation and the motto “So others can live”, which is the Rescue and Search Aviation of Brazilian Air Force motto.
Now, as our H-1H approaches the end of a long and distinguished career, performing exceptionally since the very first days in 1967 until her waning days of operation, she proves that to be a true legend requires much more than a large number of units produced. It is necessary to be reliable and capable from the beginning until the end, securing the confidence of those who operate the aircraft, the lives of those who are rescued, and the admiration of all who have ever observed the HUEY in action, with its classical shape and unique sound of the blades.
Good rest, Warrior. You deserve it… |
